01-Apr-2009 #1 Two Years in a Row Jim D'Amico of Delta Electrical Associates, Inc. in Youngwood, PA has landed the #1 spot in annual sales for the second year in a row. 

Trained by Eileen and Ed Slagis, Jim has been selling Delta-Therm products since 1996 in the western half of PA and WV.

In that time he has grown his business to include two additional staff members: Ian Levergood, who handles outside sales, and Debbie Dollman, who manages the office and provides in-house support. 

We applaud Jim, Debbie, and Ian's hard work, and share with you some of the secrets to their success. 

Delta's Business Model
Exceed your clients expectations to gain repeat business.
To do this they provide:
1. complete and accurate in-house design.
2. double-checking of quotes and designs (they proof everything);
3. written specifications that require the contractor to be trained by a sales rep prior to installation; and
4. close monitoring of each project, from specification through installation.

Installation
Delta Electrical offers free installation training that has "attention to detail" written all over it.

"We go out to the job sites and we take samples of the cables with us to show contractors how to make the power connections, how to splice the cables, and how to do end terminations. We'll even stay while they lay the first cable."

- "We offer our own resistance tester on loan, free of charge."

- "If a problem arises, we link up with Ed Witte at the factory."

Sales Calls
Jim calls on architectural and engineering specifiers, distributors and contractors. While electrical engineers typically design and specify the heat tracing, in many projects an architect may direct an engineer to use a specific product or manufacturer. 

He also keeps his eyes on new construction. While commercial projects make up the bulk of his business, he lands industrial jobs as well as upscale home projects.

Customer Loyalty
Repeat business, accounting for 90% or more of his client base, comes from knowing more about heat tracing products than any other firm in his western Pennsylvania and West Virginia territory. "Anyone who uses us usually calls us back" he said. 

The Market
Jim keeps a close watch over the product mix to note which products are increasing in sales and why so he can promote the "hot" seasonal items.

Currently in his territory, he is seeing an increase in roof and gutter cables due to the past season's heavy snowfall. Ge also notices that even with the soft residential housing market there continues to be a steady incline in floor warming cable sales. 

Future Plans
Jim's game plan for the recession involves more marketing including monthly mailers, increased sales calls, additional "Lunch and Learns," and aggressive pricing. 

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